Bob Finnan's NBA notes: LeBron James may want to move back to Ohio

Jeff Forman/JForman@News-Herald.com
LeBron James waits for a foul shot as Cavaliers coach Mike Brown looks on in the first half of the Cavaliers' 100-96 loss to the Heat March 18 at Quicken Loans Arena.

This LeBron James story is starting to take flight.
Three finalists could return to Cleveland early next week to present their sales pitches to James in person, Yahoo! Sports reports.
I believe the Cavaliers will be one of those finalists, along with Miami. James appears to have legitimate interest in returning to where he played the first seven years of his career.
I’ve been saying all along that the Cavs might be the most logical destination for James. He wants his kids to attend school here. His wife, who is pregnant with the couple’s third child, wants to raise her family here. James also has deep roots in Akron.
If they want to jet-set off to some exotic destination for a weekend, go for it. He has a private jet.
But I think he wants to make his home in Northeast Ohio.
Besides his family situation, the basketball situation with the Cavs is also on the upswing. The 6-foot-8, 250-pound James would be the cornerstone with the Cavs, of course, but he would have a good supporting cast.
A starting lineup of James, Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao, Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters would win in excess of 50 games.
They would still have the makings of a decent bench with Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Tyler Zeller, Sergey Karasev and Matthew Dellavedova.
The Cavs might have to sacrifice veteran guard Jarrett Jack to get far enough under the salary cap to sign James to a maximum contract. In that scenario, they would send Jack’s $6.3 million contract to another team and bring back a draft pick.
They are about $13.5 million under the cap, not counting a potential Jack deal. The first year of James’ max deal is projected to start at about $20.7 million.
Any regrets?
Wonder if the Cavs have any regrets taking on center Brendan Haywood’s $2.2 million guaranteed contract? In that draft-day deal, which will be announced on July 10, they sent forward Alonzo Gee to Charlotte for Haywood and Stanford power forward Dwight Powell.
One wouldn’t want to muck up a deal to sign James because of Haywood.
There are benefits to the deal. They apparently like Powell, the 45th overall pick in the 2014 draft.
Haywood’s contract for 2015-16 is worth $10.5 million and isn’t guaranteed. It could be a major trade chip next summer.
It was also time for Gee to go. The Cavs were in need of an upgrade at small forward.Hawes’ departure
Former Cavs center Spencer Hawes agreed to a four-year, $23 million deal with the Los Angeles Clippers on July 4. The 7-1, 245-pounder didn’t care much about starting since he will be playing behind big men Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
One of his priorities was to play for a contender, and the Clippers fit that bill. It seemed as if he wanted to play on the West Coast. He’s from the Seattle area.
“Even taking a little less money, this opportunity was too exciting to pass up,” Hawes told Yahoo! Sports. “I’ve had a taste of the playoffs before, but being a part of this team will be just incredible. You get to a point where you really realize what’s important.”
The Clippers used their $5.3 million mid-level exception to sign him. It includes a player option for the fourth year and a 15 percent trade kicker, sources said.
“The creativity that (coach) Doc (Rivers) allows his guys on the offensive end, how he installs things to take advantage of skill sets and the right pairings is really enticing,” Hawes said. “We will be able to do a lot of different things and create a lot of different matchups.”
The Clippers have discussed a sign-and-trade with the Cavs. As explained on ESPN.com, if they sign Hawes using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, they will be forced to operate with a hard salary cap for 2014-15. That would hinder Rivers’ ability to add to the roster.
If Hawes comes in via a sign-and-trade, the Clippers won’t have a hard cap and they will be swapping salary already on the roster for what is owed to the big man. Rivers has been looking to unload swingman Jared Dudley and possibly forward Reggie Bullock. The Cavs don’t want to take on any salary for now, at least until James makes his decision.
Rivers has designs of adding veteran forward Paul Pierce.
Brooklyn, however, would prefer to hang onto the future Hall of Famer.Marquee matchup?
The Cavs open play in the Las Vegas Summer League on July 11 against the Milwaukee Bucks. It will be shown live on NBA TV at 8 p.m., and it might be worth tuning in.
Why? Because Wiggins is expected to make his debut with the Cavs and could be matched up against Bucks forward Jabari Parker. They were the Nos. 1 and 2 picks in the 2014 draft.Rumor mill
-- What Cavs’ fans don’t want to happen is to be shut out of the James sweepstakes, and then not be able to do anything else to improve the team. All transactions are on hold until they hear from James. The problem with that is some very good players are falling off the board. If James decides to sign elsewhere, the Cavs still need to improve at small forward and perhaps with another big man.
-- The Cavs contemplated making a max offer to Utah forward Gordon Hayward, but they won’t do that until they find out about James. If James says no, the Cavs could try to save face by making an offer to Hayward. If they do make an offer, that money is tied up on their cap until the Jazz decide whether to match (they have three days). The Cavs might decide not to make an offer because many around the league think the Jazz will match the offer.
-- The Bulls are expected to use their amnesty provision on forward Carlos Boozer after the moratorium ends on July 10, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. That will wipe off Boozer’s $16.8 million contract from their salary cap. He will still be paid.
-- The Pacers will likely trim some fat on their roster to prevent them from paying the luxury tax. One option would be to waive forward/center Luis Scola, who has just under $1 million guaranteed of his $4.9 million contract.
-- Many assumed the Trail Blazers were going to re-sign veteran point guard Mo Williams with some or even all of their $5.3 million mid-level exception. After offering it to Hawes, who turned it down, they used part of it on center Chris Kaman. He will get a reported $4.8 million next year. They will be operating on a hard cap, since they are right at the tax level. The Kaman signing means they will probably not be able to sign Williams. The 32-year-old opted out of a deal worth $2.8 million for this season.

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About the Author

Bob has covered the Cavs for The News-Herald and Morning Journal since 1995. He's a graduate of Kent State University and New Philadelphia High School. Reach the author at rfinnan@morningjournal.com
or follow Bob on Twitter: @BobCavsInsider.